Knights of the Longbox

The snake's den

26

DEC/16

Trapped in their yuan-ti jailers’ dungeon, the party meets their new compatriot, Barbaxis, a half-orc brigand wanted throughout the southlands for his derring do. Barbaxis was captured by the yuan-ti on his way into the desert, hoping to find the home of the Witch Queen of the sands but has since been jailed. He agrees to help the adventurers if they can get him free. Calliope Tass and Cale work to break out of their cell by shattering the rusty bars and falling into the water, swimming to the shore in the midst of a pack of charmed crocodiles. They free their compatriots, including Barbaxis and Logan Ducane and begin exfiltrating from the dungeon, after interrogating one of the guards.

After securing their equipment from a hidden cache in the yuan-ti’s larder, the group attacks one of the halfbloods that brought them into the desert, slaying him and learning about Ibryxis, the dragon guardian Eela Ssyzareth has bribed into assisting the yuan-ti. For the dragon’s favor, Eela’s given the beast the petrified statues the cult isn’t planning to use in sacrifice and Syd is among them. The party breaks through the last of the yuan-ti in the dungeon and endeavors to track down the juvenile dragon.

Heading into a cairn under the complex, the party finds the ruins of Ibryxis fury in a trove of shattered statues before stumbling into the dragon’s den. The group flings themselves into a fierce battle, weathering the blue drake’s lightening breath as well as its furious attacks but a mortal blow from Calliope lays the beast down. While Cale skins the dragon, the rest of the team goes through its treasures, ultimately finding a stone statue of Syd. With a scroll in the dragon’s hoard, Claude intones the magic words and brings the halfling back to the world of the living.